Anna Djambuliyevna Chakvetadze (Анна Джамбулиевна Чакветадзе ; born 5 March 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player.
In her career, Chakvetadze won eight WTA Tour singles titles. She reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 5 in September 2007, after reaching the US Open semifinals. She also made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and French Open that same year. She announced her retirement on 11 September 2013, due to a persisting back injury. She is currently a commentator on the Eurosport channel.
Chakvetadze began playing tennis at the age of eight after being introduced to the sport by her mother. She hit her peak of world No. 5 in 2007 after a semifinal appearance at the US Open. Also in that year, she reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the French Open, both of which were career bests for those events. Four of her eight career singles titles also occurred in 2007.
In 2003, she made it to the final of the Junior Championships at Wimbledon before falling to Kirsten Flipkens in three sets. The same year, she won the International Bavarian Junior Challenge, defeating Marta Domachowska in two sets. Her record as a junior was 67–19 in singles, and 22–14 in doubles; her highest world ranking was No. 22, achieved in December 2003.
2001–2006: Early career and entering top 50
Chakvetadze debuted on the ITF Women's Circuit in November 2001, losing in the first round in Minsk. In July 2002, she won her first doubles title in Istanbul, teaming with fellow Russian Irina Kotkina.
At the 2004 US Open, Chakvetadze won three qualifying matches to reach the main draw of her first Grand Slam singles tournament. In the second round, she defeated world No. 3, Anastasia Myskina, before losing in the third round to Eleni Daniilidou. With this result, she became tied for the second fastest player to defeat a top-10 player in WTA history, tying Serena Williams. She broke into the top 100 in the WTA rankings in September, reaching world No. 91. She reached the top 50 in June 2005, coming in at world No. 44.
On 25 September 2006, Chakvetadze won her first WTA Tour singles tournament at the Tier III event in Guangzhou, defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues in the final. Two weeks later, she won her second WTA title at the Tier I Kremlin Cup in Moscow even though she was unseeded, beating Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova en route to the title. These wins helped boost her ranking to world No. 16.
2007: Breakthrough year, world No. 5
Chakvetadze started the year by winning the Tier IV Hobart International in Australia, her third career title. She defeated fellow Russian Vasilisa Bardina in the final. Seeded 12th at the Australian Open, she defeated eighth-seeded Patty Schnyder in the fourth round, before losing in the quarterfinals to top seed Maria Sharapova.
In February, Chakvetadze reached the quarterfinals of the Open Gaz de France in Paris where she lost to Amélie Mauresmo. She then competed in Antwerp where she lost in the semifinals to Mauresmo, in three sets. On February 19, she made her top-ten debut in the WTA rankings, at world No. 10. At the Tier I Indian Wells Open, she lost in the fourth round to Shahar Pe'er. She then reached the semifinals of the Tier I Miami Open in Key Biscayne where she was defeated by world No. 1, Justine Henin, in straight sets.
Chakvetadze played four tournaments in Europe on red clay courts. She lost in the quarterfinals of the Tier II Warsaw Open to Jelena Janković, the second round of the Tier I German Open in Berlin, and the second round of the Tier I Italian Open in Rome. At the French Open, Chakvetadze lost to second seed Sharapova in the quarterfinals.
She won her second title in that year and first grass court title in 's-Hertogenbosch, with wins over Daniela Hantuchová and Janković. At Wimbledon, however, she was defeated in the third round by 31st-seeded Michaëlla Krajicek in three sets.
Chakvetadze then played five tournaments during the North American summer hardcourt season. At the Tier III Cincinnati Open, she was the top seed and won the title, defeating Akiko Morigami in the final. She won her second consecutive tournament the following week at the Bank of the West Classic in Palo Alto, the first tournament of the US Open Series. She defeated Sania Mirza in the final. That was her ninth consecutive match-victory and resulted in her ranking rising to world No. 6. At the San Diego Open, her 12-match winning streak ended when she lost in the semifinals to top-seeded Sharapova for the third time this year, after Chakvetadze had defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, in three sets. Two weeks later, at the Tier I Canadian Open in Toronto, Chakvetadze retired from her second-round match, after losing the first set to Virginie Razzano. At the US Open, she was the sixth seed and reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets. This result caused her ranking to rise to a career high of world No. 5.
Chakvetadze was the defending champion at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, but lost her second-round match to Dinara Safina. She became the sixth player in 2007 to qualify for the year-ending Tour Championships. She reached the semifinals of that tournament by winning two of her three round-robin matches, defeating Serena Williams and Janković before losing to Henin. She then lost her semifinal match against Sharapova.
Chakvetadze began her season at the Sydney International. Seeded fifth, she lost in the first round to Katarina Srebotnik. Seeded sixth at the Australian Open, Chakvetadze was defeated in the third round by 27th seed Maria Kirilenko.
Chakvetadze helped Russia win its first-round tie against Israel during the Fed Cup by defeating Tzipora Obziler. As the top seed at the Open Gaz de France, Chakvetadze won the title by defeating seventh seed Ágnes Szávay in the final. Seeded second at the Proximus Diamond Games, Chakvetadze suffered a second-round upset at the hands of lucky loser Sofia Arvidsson. Seeded fifth at the Qatar Ladies Open, Chakvetadze lost in the second round to Li Na. Seeded sixth at the Dubai Championships, she retired from her quarterfinal match against fourth seed Jelena Janković due to a left thigh injury. After missing Indian Wells, Chakvetadze returned to action at the Miami Open. She was runner-up at the Connecticut Open, losing Caroline Wozniacki in the final.
Seeded third, she began the 2009 season at the Hobart International where she was defeated in the first round by Carla Suárez Navarro. Seeded 17th at the Australian Open, Chakvetadze lost in the second round to Australian wildcard Jelena Dokić.